The countys rural areas
also produced inventors like farmer J. B. Fogt of Anna who directly contributed to
Sidneys industry. "Mr. J.B. Fogt, of Anna, has received a patent on a circular
hay-rake which he recently invented," reported the Shelby County Democrat (SCD, Jan.
2, 1880).

The Sidney Agricultural Works, quickly grabbing Fogts
("Vogt") invention, "are now using eighteen hands" to manufacture the
rake (SCD, June 10, 1881). "We...make the Self Dumping Sulky Hay Rake, Patented by
John B. Vogt; any farmer intending to purchase a rake should call and see it before
purchasing elsewhere."

Newports Eugene Pilliod was another rural Shelby County inventor, his creation a
self-dumping wagon bed. "It is being used in hauling gravel on the streets in Sidney
and is a success" (SCD, Sept. 2, 1881). "It can be used for rapidly dumping all
kinds of grain, dirt, or almost anything that is hauled in a wagon bed." Pilliod had
built and sold the first threshing
machine built in the county in about 1844. "In 1848 he started the first steam
engine attached to a sawmill in the county" (Suttons History of Shelby County,
1883).